


Catch The One Not Falling

by TheCopperSoulBox (ProbablyJozo)



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Character Study, Gen, POV Michael J. Caboose, Unreliable Narrator, a bit angsty, but it's Caboose so he doesn't realise he's being angsty, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23648779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProbablyJozo/pseuds/TheCopperSoulBox
Summary: Sometimes it was easier to stay in bed instead of getting out of it.Beds were soft, the pillows hugged your head and the blanket made everything warm. If you fell on the mattress it usually did not hurt, but if you were lying down then you couldn’t fall because you were already there, and maybe that was why beds were nice. You could not fall because the bed had already caught you.Caboose didn’t know what he was falling from in the first place.
Relationships: Michael J. Caboose & Lavernius Tucker & Agent Washington
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Catch The One Not Falling

**Author's Note:**

> My English teacher is letting us do whatever because all exams are off, so I started writing this character study piece because I wanted to see if I could write Caboose well. Then I forgot about it, found it again, and finished it at 1am because quarantine means time isn't real anymore.
> 
> Also this is really vague on when it takes place? It feels like post-season 8 but the dynamics are more post-Chorus. Could be after season 10 as well. Just know that Church is not present.

Sometimes it was easier to stay in bed instead of getting out of it.

Beds were soft, the pillows hugged your head and the blanket made everything warm. If you fell on the mattress it usually did not hurt, but if you were lying down then you couldn’t fall because you were already there, and maybe that was why beds were nice. You could not fall because the bed had already caught you.

Caboose didn’t know what he was falling from in the first place.

Sunlight streamed through the window and lit up his room, making everything look as bright and shiny and blue as it usually was, which was a sign that Caboose should get out of bed because he was usually out of bed when his room looked like this. He should get up, get changed, maybe pull on his armour (which he did not need because they weren’t doing anything that day, but he often wore because it was normal to wear) and start his day.

He didn’t really want to do that. He didn’t really know _why_ he didn’t want to do that.

His head felt fuzzier than it usually did.

So Caboose stayed where he was, lying in a bed that caught him even though he was not falling (was he?) and wondering why he wasn’t getting up. Time passed, he spent a lot of that time staring at the ceiling covered in sunlight, and maybe he could have gone back to sleep except he wasn’t actually all that _tired_.

Eventually, there was a soft knock on his door, and someone pushed it open.

“Caboose?” That was Agent Washington (or maybe Not-Agent Washington, because he kept saying that he wasn’t an agent anymore, but that was harder to say so Caboose just called him Agent Washington), who was looking into the room curiously before spotting him on the bed. Behind him was Tucker (stupid Tucker, except he was starting to become not-so-stupid and was actually kind of nice), which wasn’t that surprising, because Caboose had noticed how Tucker and Agent Washington had started running together in the morning, even though Tucker used to hate waking up early.

“Hello, Agent Washington,” he said, turning to look at him but not sitting up just yet.

“I was wondering where you were,” Agent Washington said, stepping fully into the room and letting Tucker trail in behind him. “You don’t usually sleep in.”

“I was not sleeping,” Caboose explained. “I was just staying in bed.”

He watched as Agent Washington crossed the room, his steps a lot lighter and quieter than what they were like when he usually walked around the base, before sitting down on the bed by Caboose’s legs (but not _on_ his legs, that would be rude and Agent Washington knew that). Tucker stayed by the door, and he crossed his arms as if he was about to say something mean to Caboose, like he usually did. Or used to usually do, because he used to do it a lot more in Blood Gulch than he did now. “Are you alright, Caboose?” he asked instead, and his voice did not sound mean at all.

“I am alright,” Caboose replied, and he didn’t add anything else because _he was alright, nothing else had to be said_. Agent Washington and Tucker looked at each other, and Tucker looked slightly surprised, even though he had nothing to be surprised about. Did Tucker not think Caboose was alright? Or was it the way he had said it? Maybe he had said it in the wrong way and that meant they didn’t think he was alright.

“Is this an off-day, Caboose?” Agent Washington asked, reaching out to put a hand on Caboose’s thigh. Caboose didn’t know why he was doing that. “You know, like...one of the bad days?”

“Silly Washington,” Caboose replied easily. “It is only morning. It cannot be a bad day if the day hasn’t happened yet.”

“Yes it can,” Tucker mumbled, in the way that meant he didn’t think Caboose could hear him.

“No it can’t!” Caboose argued anyway, because Tucker was wrong. “Something very good could happen later, and then it is not a bad day anymore!”

“It’s almost lunchtime, Caboose,” Agent Washington said, not joining the argument because Caboose was right so he would side with Caboose and that would make Tucker mad, and Washington was friends with Tucker so he probably didn’t want that. “Not...not exactly morning anymore, buddy.”

“Church called me buddy,” Caboose muttered (and he didn’t know why he said it but it was the truth and just felt right to say), and Agent Washington got a look on his face as if he had just figured something out. He turned to Tucker again and opened his mouth to say something, but then Caboose remembered what Washington had just told him. “Oh! It’s almost lunchtime? You were getting me for lunch!”

He pushed himself up then, because it was almost lunchtime so he had to get up, get changed and ignore his armour because Washington and Tucker weren’t in full armour, and Agent Washington startled a bit as he moved. “Woah, um, there’s no rush, Caboose! We weren’t actually—”

”It’s okay, Agent Washington, I needed to get up anyway,” Caboose said, because Agent Washington had sprung up when Caboose got out of bed, and he had been staring at the ceiling for a while anyway. It was a little bit later than usual, but he still needed to start the day.

Tucker and Agent Washington watched him as he moved to his dresser and pulled some clothes out, and when he turned around they were still standing there, not moving.

“Um, most days I am alone when I get changed?” he said, because usually people did not watch as he changed clothes. “So. Um.”

“Oh! Right,” Agent Washington exclaimed, and he pulled Tucker out the door with him (Washington was always better at knowing when to follow normal). Caboose could still hear their voices outside his door, but they weren’t in the room anymore, so that was okay.

He was always quick at changing out of his pyjamas, and as he pulled on his final sock, he smiled to himself. _He got up, got changed, and he was not bothering with his armour. Now he could start his day._ His room was bright, it was almost lunchtime, and Caboose looked at his bed one more time before he left the room. He still wanted it to catch him, even though he was not falling.

Oh well. It would still be there to catch him later.


End file.
